Alto

Alto’s back was completely healed by the morning. Last night, he told Janus that there was no need to keep watch since they both needed to rest well. During the days that they were together, Alto never had a second thought about Janus. He seemed humble and quiet in a mysterious way, though he knew when to loosen up. Janus seemed younger than he was, but not by much. It was like he was an adult trapped in a child’s body, he knew too much.

“So I tried to find the girl all night,” Janus was saying. “Normally I would be surrounded by light and people, but last night I was in a room that was completely black. The only light source was from this glowing chess board,” he described, pacing back and forth.

“Chess board? Do you know how to play chess?” Alto asked, getting up from where he was sitting.

“It was the only game that the girl and I used to play when there was free time,” Janus replied, fiddling with his hands. Alto rested his palms on Janus’s shoulders to stop him.

“Janus, stop. Take a deep breath. This information is very valuable. We’re going to get out of here. There’s nothing to panic about,” he cooed, looking into his eyes.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Janus said, shoulders relaxing. He patted his hair down, combing it back with his fingers. “But what really made me shiver was how there were initials on some of his chess pieces. You were the queen and I was the knight. Though what was weird was that it was like playing against air. Something invisible was playing against me. It wouldn’t move after it took away my knight,” Janus said sadly.

“Janus, that doesn’t mean anything. Did you see any other initials?” Alto asked urgently.

“Yeah, there were many. 10 of my 16 pieces had them but I couldn’t remember them all. Um, there was a single M on one, JH, ZK, DJS, TA, and some others that I can’t remember,” Janus said hesitantly. “There were some on my opponent’s side also. There was an H as the king and a T as the queen, but I just knew that they weren’t moving by themselves. Something else was moving them.”

“That’s decent information. You said that the thing playing against you was invisible?” Alto asked. He wasn’t completely sure about Janus’s prediction, but they had to prepare for the worst. If something was controlling the pieces then it’s not the people who want to play against us. We just need to find out what it is.

“Yeah, but there was like a light protruding from it. Like...like…” Janus stammered, biting his bottom lip.

“Like an aura?”

“Yes exactly!”

“Did the light have any color to it? Like any tint?” Now it was Alto’s turn to pace the floor.

“Red,” Janus said, tilting his head in confusion. Alto winced. It was exactly what he was hoping for Janus to not say.

“That is not good.”